The retirement of the gay ghetto

In an article on 365Gay.com called Gay Villages Disappearing gays in San Francisco are lamenting that the Castro district is turning into a straight enclave. With an influx of young hipsters who enjoy the diversity of the neighborhood. This is driving prices up and the gays out!

For more than 30 years, most big cities have had a district either explicitly or implicitly understood to be the place to go if you were gay _ the West Village and Chelsea in New York City, Washington's Dupont Circle, Boston's South End.

But as gays and lesbians win legal rights and greater social acceptance, community activists worry these so-called "gayborhoods" are losing their relevance. Like the bedsheet-sized rainbow flag rippling majestically at the intersection marking the entrance to the Castro, they are at a historical crossroads.

"What I've heard from some people is, 'We don't need the Castro anymore because essentially San Francisco is our Castro,'" said Don Romesburg, who co-chairs the GLBT Historical Society.

I have to ask, is this not for the best? Regardless of the historical struggles to create the Castro, these will live on in our history just like the civil war, did we not achieve the ultimate goal in San Francisco? To live openly as a sexual minority anywhere in the city without fear of persecution, injury or oppression?

I think the integration of gays into all aspects of society is the ideal. Why force segregation on ourselves if we don't have to? This is a distinct turning point in the evolution of gay rights. When we used to shout "we're here - we're queer - get used to it!" I don't think anyone had in mind what our society would look like when society as a whole actually did "get used to it".

Granted, many areas of society in this nation are still way behind in acceptance of gays and lesbians. Nonetheless it is a good sign of things to come when the gay ghettos can start retiring.